Glasgow – Page 42 – My Photo Blog

On Reflection … 22 April 2016

Posted on April 22, 2016April 23, 2016 by Zogman

It wasn’t a bad day. Up a bit earlier than normal today to take my niece and her mum to a hospital appointment. Rather than sit in a crowded carpark waiting for them, I thought I’d just drive in to Glasgow. Followed my nose and relied on guesswork to get to where I was going. On the way I passed a Chinese supermarket and went in to see if I could find Dried Fenugreek Leaves because I’m sure the Indian chef who took the cook school I went to had listed them as one of the main ingredients in pakora. They had loads of dried an fresh herbs and veg, but no fenugreek, dried or otherwise, so I left empty handed, but I’m going back there some time for some Chinese curry mix like Jackie made for us in Skye.

I got parked easily up on St Mungo Avenue in Glasgow and walked down past Queen Street station and looked across past the College of Building and Printing as-was, now Glasgow Metropolitan and liked the light on the old sandstone building (top middle). On through George Square where I caught the wee man looking bemusedly at his iPad and down Queen Street to peruse the bargains at Cass Art. There were none – bummer. Walked back up and admired the reflections on the new office block, not for the first time. Managed a few shots, but then a crowd of school weans arrived out of the GOMA (Gallery Of Modern Art) clutching sketch pads and pencils and proceeded to sketch everything in sight. I put my camera away, knowing I had my PoD in one of the reflection shots. I’d just sat down with a coffee in Pret when my phone rang and I knew the Outpatients were ready for their lift home, so back up the hill again and back home via the hospital.

After lunch which was fried bacon, potatoes and egg (not the healthiest perhaps, but very, very tasty) Scamp wanted to go shopping. I decided my calling was more cycle related and put the bike on the rack on the car and got going to Auchinstarry. I’d decided it was warm enough for shorts. It was, but only just. Today was not as warm as yesterday or Wednesday with clouds massing over the hills. Colder, but ideal for another go at another time lapse (That technique is becoming a bit ‘old’ now that I can remember its name – time for something new). Cycled along to Dumbreck and set the camera up on the Gorillapod on a fencepost and fired off a 100 frame, 10 second interval movie.

Then changed lenses and did another 100 frame, but 5 second interval movie. That was enough for me. I was getting cold standing around so I packed up and headed for home.

I was just fitting the bike on to the rack when the first splashes of rain appeared on the roof of the car. There was that delicious earth smell you get when it rains after a long (for Scotland) dry spell. It rained all the way home, but when I drew into our street the road was dry. Got the bike in to the house and the raindrops appeared on the window. It must have followed me home.

So, on reflection, it wasn’t a bad day!

Endorphins again

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Zogman

A dull morning. Cold and dull.

Afternoon was spent trying to ignore the ignorant Rangers supporters next door stamping and shouting their team on to an eventual win, while we watched the F1 cars whizzing around a hot track in China. Neither of these sporting events really improved my mood.

Scamp wanted to go to the Sunday Social at Mercado in Glasgow. I wasn’t totally over the moon about driving and parking in Glasgow city centre just after an Old Firm game. We’d never been to Mercado, but had heard that the floor wasn’t great for dancing. I thought I might just have enough time to go out and get today’s PoD, but just as I was going out, the rain came on. Plan 2. I’d left the ‘weemen’ setup and tripod in position in the spare room. I took three of four shots of the same scene as before with differing focus points. At least I’d have a potential PoD.

On the off chance that it would improve my mood, I drove in to Glasgow. Tried to park in an NCP carpark just round from Mercado. Luckily I didn’t have enough change to pay the exorbitant £6 for 2 hours. Drove back round and parked on the street 100m away. Parking free on a Sunday. A bit further to walk, but a saving of £6. NCP Normal Costly Parking.

Maybe it was the endorphins again, but after 2 hours of almost non-stop dancing, I walked out in a totally different mood. Maybe it’s not anything so scientific, but there’s something in this salsa dancing that gives me sore feet, but lifts my spirits. Watched a few ‘rubber men’ wandering around bemused with smiles on their faces and Rangers scarfs. Maybe they were experiencing the effects of endorphins too. Saw a few sad looking green and white dressed men too. It’s a strange game this football.

The image for this PoD is two shots. One focused on the Queen and one on Shug and Tam. I exported them from Lightroom as layers into Photoshop and painted a mask on Shug and Tam’s layer to allow the Queen to show through from the lower layer. This gave the effect of sharp focus on the front pair and on the Queen at the rear of the stage while the ‘subjects’ were out of focus, a physical impossibility, but essential to the conversation. The text was laid on using Comic Life V1 which, thankfully, I’d retained when I updated to V2. Sometimes updates do more damage than good. That’s why I’m still using Mountain Lion instead of the allegedly borked El Capitan on the Mac. I’ll continue to use it until it isn’t practical anymore.

Hopefully a warmer day tomorrow.

Walking through the Toon – 16 April 2016

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Zogman

We got the bus into Glasgow and went for a curry at Cafe India, where I’d gone to have my Indian cooking lesson back in February. The food wasn’t spectacular, but they were decent curries. Too much incense burning in the place and we both had the feeling that it was to cover up something. I don’t think we’ll be back.

Walked down to Glasgow Green via Parnie Street (Merchant City Cameras, but nothing inspired me). It was cold down The Green, but some Indian blokes were playing cricket. Cricket in Glasgow? Whatever next? Walked back through the town along Argyle Street taking in the sights. One bloke dancing and singing with his top off in a north wind that would cut the face off you. One bloke dressed as Superman, blowing hundreds of bubbles for the wee weans. One bloke dressed as a monster in Buchanan Street. Thankfully we missed The Bastard Drummers who were setting up when we walked down Bucky Street and having a rest when we walked back up. Sometimes we’re just lucky.

Bus home and that was our Saturday afternoon. I quite enjoyed our wee walk round the toon.

April Showers in March – 27 March 2016

Posted on March 27, 2016 by Zogman

I started writing this, sitting in the Winter Garden at the People’s Palace on Glasgow Green with Scamp, having a late breakfast on a sunny intervals day. We’d agreed this morning that that we’d go for a walk along the Green on this, the first day of British Summertime. There were a few hardy rowers on the Clyde, but they were few and far between. I’m guessing that some were absolute beginners just deciding whether or not this was a sport for them. If there was a day to test it out, a cold, windy one with a strong current would be a good one to dissuade the unsure. Although there were many sunny intervals, there was also a cold wind and on the way home from the Green we drove through hail showers. Having said that, the sunny intervals made up for the wetter, windier times.

When we got home, I went out for a walk in St Mo’s hoping for some more shots to bolster the ones from Glasgow Green and the People’s Palace. I got not one photo, in fact the camera hardly came out of the bag, so all of today’s shots came from the earlier photo-fest in Glasgow. The daffodils were from our front garden and I have no idea who the sleeping beauty is (bottom right).

It was good to have some longer periods of sunshine today after the clocks went forward, even if we did lose an hour of sleep last night.

Hoping for more sunny intervals and even some short April showers (in March) tomorrow.

A Lovely Lunch – 24 March 2016

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Zogman

Today is Scamp’s birthday and we headed in to town to celebrate. Lunch was booked for 1.30pm in the Battlefield Rest in Battlefield, where else. At 2.05 after 35 minutes waiting, we had still not had our starters and were getting a bit fractious. Thankfully it wasn’t much later when Scamp’s Smoked Haddock and Spinach Crepe and my Haggis Polpette arrived and as anticipated, they were lovely! Mains followed soon after the first plates were cleared away. Scamp’s was Smoked Haddock Risotto, mine was Italian Sausage Stew. If it was possible for the starters to be bettered, the mains did it. We more or less forgave them the bad start. Coffees were on the house when Scamp revealed that it was her birthday. Overall, it was what we expected in the Battlefield Rest. If you’re in a hurry, it’s not the place to eat, but the food is very, very good.

Stopped off in Glasgow City Centre on the way home and in the course of wandering around the shops, managed a few shots of the bloke with the beard playing the guitar. That was about it.

When we got home I saw the raindrops on the flowers in the hanging basket and thought it might make an interesting shot. Today we had the first rain in 14 days. This must be a record in Scotland.

It’s been a good day today. Let’s hope it’s a Good Friday tomorrow.

A day in the “Toon” – 26 February 2016

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Zogman

Rather a late and lazy start to the day. Possibly too much Laphroaig last night, if you can have too much of a good thing, that is. So, later than anticipated, I took the Megane for its wash and brush up for being a good car yesterday and not giving me a showing up at the MOT garage. It felt better to drive after the car wash, but that was partly due to it having a service yesterday. Cars always drive better after a service. I know it’s probably a psychological thing, but it is partly practical too. Still a couple of things to put right before we drive any long distance runs. Rear brake disks need replacing and the front tyres are also needing replaced. If it had been to Arnold Clark for the last three MOTs it would have had to have the disks replaced and the wheel cylinders replaced too every time, I’m sure. Bunch of sharks. I digress, as usual.

I drove in to Glasgow and to limit my wandering about time, decided to park at a meter. Found one near to the bus station and went to pay the ticket. After decoding the parking cost/time formula I proceeded to dump all my loose change into the ticket machine. Almost got to the two and a half hours I needed and the message “Take your money back” appeared and all my change rattled out. I assumed the machine was knackered and went to another where the same thing happened! Is there a limit to the amount of coins you can put in these machines? It’s never happened to me before. I can only think that the money box in the machines was full and couldn’t accept any more cash. I didn’t have any pound coins, so I had to abandon that idea and go to the expensive Concert Hall carpark where, despite the sign saying “Car Park FULL”, there were indeed spaces in our usual secret dungeon. Best kept secret in Glasgow.

Wandered down Bucky Street and took some photos of folk that looked interesting. One bloke who stands there hail, rain and shine with a sandwich board saw me and turned his back which was a great shame as he has an interesting face. Maybe I should ask him next time if I can have his photo.

I had a last visit to the Art Store before it closes next week. There wasn’t much left. The shop is all but gutted now. Almost nothing left. No brushes, paints, pencils, canvasses or sketch books. A few pens and some pastels, but nothing worth talking about. Everything was 75% off. I saw an old woman pocketing a couple of packets of pencil leads. Sales assistant watched her and just shrugged his shoulders. If she’d bought them, they would have cost a few pence. Some folk have no decency at all. Not been doing very much painting or drawing recently. Must get started again.

Egg pizza for dinner, but went in to Collins & Son butchers on the way home and bought a couple of nice sirloin steaks, one of which is in the fridge destined to be tomorrow’s dinner. Got loads of other stuff too, almost all of which is now in the freezer. It’s good to go to a real butchers rather than Tesco. The meat just looks better. It’s been our aim for the past few years to buy from indepenedents where possible.

Weather for tomorrow doesn’t look inspiring. Don’t have a plan. The Easy Rider mentality, only I won’t be stamping on my watch in the morning (see the film to understand).

Endorphins – 21 February 2016

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Zogman

Sometimes when we come out of the salsa social on a Sunday, I feel it’s a duty done. Scamp usually wants to go to The Garage to the Sunday Social and I don’t usually mind. Today when we came out, I was buzzing and could have stayed until closing time. Yes, I’d have been knackered and yes I’d have been starving, but I don’t think I’d have minded. Apparently it’s all to do with Endorphins. If you haven’t heard of them, I’m told they are little smiley faces that bubble round your bloodstream and do happy things. You can read all about them on Wikipedia if you aren’t a sciency type like me. What they don’t tell you on the revered Wikipedia is that the little endorphins like dancing, especially salsa dancing and that’s why I was feeling much better coming out of The Garage than I did when I went in.

Made the rest of the pakora when we got home and although the chicken stuff was ok, the veggy pakora was much too thick and stodgy. Version 2 will be better when I get round to making it.

It’s been a dismal day with constant rain. The temperature is supposed to drop considerably over the next couple of days with ice and snow forecast. Much nicer than constant rain.

Forty Three Years Ago – 17 February 2016

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Zogman

Forty three years ago today the weather was much the same. There was snow on the ground and it was cold. Two young folk, one 22 and one just 18 repeated their vows and became man and wife. How their lives have changed.

Today we took it easy. We had intended going to Edinburgh, but it being the middle of the week and with the prospect of more snow on the way, we decided to cut our losses and go to Glasgow instead. Rather than suffer the long bus journey through the wilds of Moodiesburn and Muirhead, I offered to drive. We eventually got parked in the third carpark we tried, despite the electronic signs telling us that there were spaces in the other two (they lied). Walked down through town me looking at a couple of cameras on the way, but still undecided which or even if I’d buy if it came down to it. Just like a girl can never have enough shoes, a photog can never have enough cameras. Decided on Browns for lunch and were mightily disappointed in the lack of flavour from both our meals. It’s feels like they have a reputation now, so they don’t have to try so hard. I think we’ll try somewhere else next time, but it’s a shame when it was a celebration meal and we rejected a few good restaurants before opting for Browns. Maybe it’s something to do with the name “Browns”: ordinary, nondescript, boring. Sort of sums it up really.

Went from there to the Art Store and picked up a couple of small Pink Pig sketch books and a wonderful bargain of a watercolour box reduced from £79 to £25!! Unfortunately, as I guessed, the Art Store is closing for good at the end of the month. According to one of the assistants, “the company is kaput”. Short term bargains for artists, but long term loss for art in Glasgow. They will be sadly missed.

After we came home, the weather brightened up and I managed an hour in St Mo’s just walking in the snow taking shots mainly with the 9mm. Some of the results are above. No plans for tomorrow, it all depends on the weather.

Booked – 12 February 2016

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Zogman

We finally got a holiday booked for Scamp and I. We were beginning to think that we wouldn’t get away at all, but now we are good to go.

Went in to Glasgow today. Couldn’t decide at first whether to go to Stirling or Glasgow, but I wanted to have a look at a camera and I was pretty sure I could get my hands on it in Glasgow. There was no chance of seeing a camera in Stirling. With that in mind, we headed for Glasgow in the afternoon. Other than visiting the travel agent and then Jessops, it was just a quick trot round the shops, then home. There was one surprise, the Art Store in Queen Street was offering everything in store at 50% off. That may sound good, and indeed there were bargains to be had, but it made me wonder if this is another independent art shop that has gone to the wall.

The camera was not as good as I had hoped it would be. It was an Oly E-M5 and I got my hands on it in John Lewis. First impressions were that it felt a bit clumsy and not as neat as the E-PL5. I then tried it’s newer sibling the Oly E-M10 in Jessops. It was neater and more ergonomic than the older E-M5, but still didn’t make me want to part with my money. I had no intention of buying the camera from either of these shops. I only wanted to use them to get my hands on them and give them a bit of comparison. If I was going to buy one, I’d go to one of the second-hand dealers on the net like MBP in Brighton. Anything I’ve bought from them has been really good quality and was at least a third off the price when new.

Three shots today from our walk around Glasgow. Nothing outstanding, just a few candids.

Cold and bright in Glasgow.

Curry – 7 February 2016

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Zogman

I had to drive in to Glasgow today to go to a curry making afternoon at Cafe India in the city. It was a really interesting two and a half hours which started with making pakora – Potato, Spinach and Chicken varieties. After we sampled them, we moved on to mains. I made the Lamb Lazees (pronounced Layzee) which was really rich and a little bit creamy. I think I’d he hard put to make it myself, but it was an experience discovering just how quick these dishes are to make. Granted the meat was all pre-cooked, but one woman was vegetarian and she made a standard vegetable curry in the same time as the rest of us, which was about 10 minutes. Next was a demonstration of making nan bread and chapatis. We didn’t get a chance to make our own, probably on health and safety grounds as the tandoor oven operates at 300ºc! Finally we had a sit down lunch where we got to eat the fruits of our labours. I’ve told Scamp that the next time she sees this offer, she should go and then we can compare notes.

We should have gone to the Sunday Social today, but I couldn’t be bothered and Scamp was feeling the after-effects of yesterday’s late night at Kul’s surprise birthday party at Gusto in Bothwell Street in Glasgow. Table should have been ready for 7.45pm, but the restaurant were running late. Finally got our mains at just after 10.00pm. I don’t think we’ll be back there again. My main was good – roast chicken, but the meat was finished before they brought the potatoes and veg. Totally disorganized and not cheap either. So, we agreed to forego salsa but did have a practise at the bachata steps we learned last week.

Only got one shot today in a dull rainy Glasgow. It wasn’t raining in Cowcaddens underground where I got today’s PoD. It should have been the full view across both tunnels, but I was rushing and didn’t notice the camera strap obscuring the left hand tunnel. One of the problems of the 9mm lens is the remarkable field of view. Sometimes it’s too big a field.

Saw a couple of lovely paintings in the restaurant (top right) and tried to copy one tonight. Not totally successfully, but an interesting diversion from my usual “style“. Yet another work in progress.